Special Edition 18

Trample Dance

He’s a poor boyEmpty as a pocketEmpty as a pocket with nothing to lose…

Music, singing and dancing remain an indispensable ingredient of social life in the Cape. They form part of any festival or celebration.

Originally, a langarm referred to a dance style in which partners stretched their arms horizontally, allowing them to move more freely and without the steps imposed on them by formal ballroom dancing. Today, it represents less of a definitive dance style or musical genre and is rather used to describe a social gathering. Helping to bridge the cultural divide, langarm’s are popular with both the Afrikaans and Cape Coloured communities.

More specifically, vastrap or ‘trample’ unites the ancient Khoesan trance-dance with traditional Dutch folk music. Played on a succession of different and often home-made instruments, historically, the traditional excuse for hosting a vastrap party was for the trampling of a newly laid earth floor. But since the primary ingredient was cow-dung, it’s said that most of the dancing was performed outside.

So, welcome to Strictly Cape Dancing, although Rick is curious to learn what Len, Darcey, Craig and Bruno might think of it all. Who knows, after a bottle or two of Trample Dance, they might well be on the dancefloor with the rest of them, perfecting their own version of a vastrap…

Afrikaans Lesson #293:Skoffel: ‘Let’s go skoffel’ – Let’s go dance!

Afrikaans Lesson #634:Oesfees: Harvest festival.

Afrikaans Lesson #73:Oke: General term for a ‘bloke’.

Afrikaans Lesson #627:Yskas: Literally, the ice box. A fridge.

Afrikaans Lesson #183:Sakkie-sakkie: Sokkie dancing is a style of social ballroom danced with a partner. It is also referred to as a langarm, a kotteljons or a water-pomp. Not dissimilar to the American ‘sock-hop’, a sokkie in Afrikaans refers to those who choose to dance in their socks or barefoot.

Afrikaans Lesson #184:Vastrap: The alternative name for a ‘trample dance’.